Hills Like White Elephants Group

Question:

quizy
quizy
Student
College - Sophomore

Why does Ernest Hemingway give the title as, Hills Like White Elephants?

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Posted by quizy on Wednesday February 21, 2007 at 1:50 AM and tagged with hills like white elephants, title.

Answers:


  1. gbeatty Teacher
    College - Freshman

    eNotes Editor

    There are several reasons Hemingway selected this title for this story. The less important ones are the functional (maybe the hills really looked like this), and some of the lesser symbolism of the elephant (it is really big, and doesn't forget, and the thing they are talking about is very important and they'll never forget it).

    The main reason, though, is the meaning of the phrase "white elephant." A white elephant is a possession, often a gift, that is expensive and hard to get rid of, but not something the recipient wants. Since the couple is talking about abortion, the title refers to that.

    Greg

    Sources:
    http://www.answers.com/topic/white-elephant
    http://www.enotes.com/hills-like/5849

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    Posted by gbeatty on Wednesday February 21, 2007 at 7:12 AM


  2. blazedale

    eNotes Editor

    There's a good related discussion in the link below:

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/hills-like/group/discuss/abortion-h...

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    Posted by blazedale on Tuesday July 15, 2008 at 1:20 PM